‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ by Edgar Allan Poe is an example of a horror narrative that deals with the crime and confession of the narrator. The narrator of the story commits the crime of murdering his master in order to get rid of his pale blue eye but after committing the crime, he suffers from guilt psychology which makes him restlessness and the mental state of restlessness forces him to confess his crime in front of the three policemen.
The narrator is a mentally disturbed character living with his master. Analysing his image and behaviour throughout the story, it appears that he is mentally abnormal. In the beginning of the story, he claims his acute sense of hearing stating that he can hear the sound of heaven, hell and earth. Such a claim is made only by a mad man. He also shocks the readers by revealing his plan to kill his master. His master is very kind to him and has done no wrong to him. Despite the positive nature of his master, the narrator hates him because he can’t stand the pale blue eye of his master. In order to get rid of the eye, he makes up his mind to kill his master. The reason behind the murder plan can’t be justified and the pale blue eye as the reason behind murder indicates the abnormal mentality of the narrator.
Throughout the story, the narrator frequently claims that he is not mad but the more he claims, the madder he appears in the eyes of the readers. As per his plan, he visits his master’s room at mid-night. He opens the door that very wide sufficient for him to enter his head in and it takes him a whole one hour to place his head within the opening. This very act is an example of extreme patience which is often interpreted as symptoms of insanity. After entering into the room, he turns the lantern on and lets the light fall on his master’s face. However, he can’t see the vulture-eye of his master as his master is asleep. The narrator does not feel an impulse to kill his master and therefore, he returns without killing him.
The narrator visits his master’s room continuously for seven nights but returns without killing his master as his master is asleep every night and in the absence of the sight of the eye, he doesn’t feel like killing him. However, on the eighth night, the narrator chuckles while recollecting his seven previous attempts and the sound wakes up the master. In the light of the lantern, he can see the pale blue eye of the master which fills him with such a high degree of anxiety that he can’t control himself and kills the old man by dragging him to the floor and pulling the heavy bed over him. In order to hide the crime, he dismembers the corpse and hides it under the wooden planks. The act of dismembering the dead body is an extreme form of cruelty which also suggests the image of the narrator as a mad person.
It is true that the narrator kills his master to get rid of his pale blue eye but the crime causes guilt psychology in his case. While talking to the three policemen, he is disturbed by a sound like that of a watch which keeps on growing louder and louder every minute. He relates the sound with the heartbeat of the old dead master. Being unable to tolerate it, he confesses his crime in front of the policemen. In fact, it is the sound of his guilt psychology that urges him to confess his crime. As the sound is coming from within, the narrator can only hear the sound but policemen can’t. Moreover, as it is the own voice, the narrator can’t suppress his voice. The guilt psychology makes him restless as evident in his act of talking quickly and loudly and walking on the floor to and fro. Finally, he has no option so he confesses his crime to get relief from his guilt psychology.
Must Watch:
Travelling Through the Dark by William Stafford
Reading Suggestion:
The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
